Toowoomba woman in Paris describes 'strange quiet'

A TOOWOOMBA woman holidaying in Paris with her boyfriend said the city had fallen strangely quiet in the aftermath of this morning's terrorist attack.

Three masked gunmen stormed the officers of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday, shooting 12 people dead and injuring 11 more.

Lisa Kajewski, 23, said the city of Paris was abnormally quite following the worst post-war terror attack on France.

"Around 3pm we walked down to the Champs-Elysees where we noticed a heavy presence of police officers and we wondered what was going on," Mrs Kajewski said.

French soldiers patrol in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris as the capital was placed under the highest alert status. Police say two officers and 10 journalists are dead, with five others in critical condition, following what President Hollande calls a 'terrorist attack of the most extreme barbarity'